Do not give used clothes and second-hand goods to the less fortunate

The ROLF Riders will form a convoy to meet the children from the orphanages during the upcoming ROLF Sports Day.

Do not give used clothes and second-hand goods to the less fortunate, Rainbow of Life Forces (ROLF), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in aid of underprivileged children said.

The NGO aims to educate the public on how to contribute more consciously to those in need during The 6th Gold Ribbon Campaign-Grant-A-Wish on Universal Children's Day 2014.

Its founder, Adelyn Lim, said Malaysians were very charitable but many gave items and monetary contributions without identifying specific needs of the communities that they were donating to.

"There are complexities in contributing. Once, we received dozens of packets of groundnuts as a contribution to handicapped children.

"Being disabled, the children were unable to shell the nuts or eat them without getting choked, which resulted in the entire contribution going to waste." she said.

She added that some contributors sent in used and torn clothing and reading material with missing pages, not knowing that such items were not useful for schooling children at orphanages.

"Through this campaign, we are able to reach out to each child's specific needs more effectively by listing out the wishes of each child, whether it is a new school uniform or a new pair of shoes to guide, the public in fulfilling them accordingly.

"Instead of the fully funded and common orphanages, we have carefully identified the ones that have been neglected or are not notable," she said, adding that the programme this year would help a total of 184 children from nine orphanages across the Klang Valley and Pahang.

Lim said the Gold Ribbon Campaign, which had been successfully running for five years, would also be extending its support internationally to 416 underprivileged children of Nunupa Primary School in Male-Ubu, Indonesia and Drikung Kagyu Institute in Dehradun, India.

With a grand total of 600 children to support, ROLF invites the public to donate items not exceeding the worth of RM300, as listed out on their website.

"Items on the wishlist range from a new watch and football jersey to the most basic necessity of school stationeries and haircare products.

"When I visited Yesuvin Mahligai orphanage, a 14-year-old girl told me all she wanted was her own bottle of Sunsilk hair shampoo as she wanted to have silky hair like the models in the TV advertisements and that she had to share a common brand shampoo with 22 other children," she said, adding that children between the age of three and 21 did not necessarily have grand wishes.

Lim said guiding the public to help fulfil a child's wish went a long way.

"The first step for all donors is to complete and submit the online form on ROLF's website with details on which child's wish the donor chooses to grant.

"We will then contact each donor to confirm their contribution. If there are overlapping donations, we will advise the donor to choose another wish to grant. This is to ensure that every child has their wish fulfilled and that there is no wastage in resources," said Lim.

"Many donors who meet the child whose wish they are granting, end up making regular visits to the orphanage to help further. Donors say its because they feel more connected to the child after getting to know their desires and dreams," she added.

This year's sports day will host 184 children from the orphanages, with the assistance of local artistes, members of the Celebrities Sports Club Singapore and 150 students from local universities such as INTI International University, HELP University College and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman participating in the programmes.

Leading ROLF's charity campaigns over the past seven years, superbike riding communities Biking Malaysia, Moto Aid and The Fraternity Riders show that even the toughest figures have a soft side.

The ROLF Riders, featuring a convoy of 300 riders who gather every year to ride to the orphanages to spend their time with the children.

"People often assume that bikers are an unruly bunch, but we do have a heart.

"Besides taking the kids for a ride on our bikes, we also play with them during telematches. Even if only for one day, it seems as though we are able to make them forget their plight," said Moto Aid Services (M) Sdn Bhd director Clifford Richards.

Richards invites riders and biking enthusiasts to join the convoy.

"There will be trained a marshall team patrolling with the convoy and Moto Aid will assist riders with repairs if necessary, during the ride," he said.

ROLF: THE 6th Gold Ribbon Campaign - Grant-A-Wish on Universal Children's Day welcomes the public to grant a wish and contribute by visiting www.rolfcommunity.org from now until Nov 3.

Donors are welcome to the gift handover ceremony at the 2nd ROLF Sports Day at 8am on Nov 16 in Stadium INSPEN, Kajang.

Bikers who would like to join the charity ride convoy, can call 016-377 8163 (Clifford). For details on the campaign, call 03-62503999 or 019-272 0999.